Pellet machine



Feb. 1., 1955 Filed April 3. 1950 C. V. JOHNSON PELLET MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet l @Waas/EVS' Feb. 1, 1955 c. v. JOHNSON 2,700,941

PELLET MACHINE Filed April s, 195o s sheets-sheet 2 Zi/0E K JOHA/SUNINVENTOR.

BY I l.

C. V. JOHNSON PELLET MACHINE Feb. 1, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April3. 195o s WR. m@ so N L ww n u n E. w W a United States Patent O PELLETMACHINE Clyde Vern Johnson, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 3, 1950, Serial No. 153,680

6 Claims. (Cl. 107-8) This invention relates to apparatus for producingpellets from moldable material, and is a continuation-in-part ofilrysgtpending application tiled April 2, 1948, Serial No.

A main object of the present invention is to increase the output of apellet producing apparatus without increasing the speed of the primaryelements. In my prior application, above identified, there is discloseda pellet apparatus having a stationary annular oriiiced die withrotatable extruding rollers within the die and rotatable knivescontacting the exterior of the die. In the present invention the annulardie is made rotatable and the die and rollers are rotated in reversedirections therefore doubling the output from the die by making thespeed of the die equal to that of the rollers.

Another main object of the present invention is to increase the outputof a pellet producing apparatus without increasing the speed or size ofthe elements, and this is accomplished by providing a double bank systemof steam inlet nozzles which so direct steam into a mixing chamber as tomake the moldable mass easier to extrude than heretofore possible.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mannerof mounting the knives or cutting means so that the rigidity of thecutting means and the knives is markedly increased and also so that thelubrica- `tion system of the cutting means mounting system is notsubjected to the direct flow of steam. In the present invention this isaccomplished by mounting the knives on a mounting plate which is, inturn, mounted on the bottom of the mixing chamber, whereas in my priorinvention the knives were suspended from a mounting plate which was, inturn, mounted from the upper portion of the chamber.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying systemaround an annular die to convey the pellets which are cut to an outletand thereby reduce the amount of breakage and crumbling of the pelletsand preserving the gloss on the pellets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mannerof mounting the feed hopper of a pellet producing apparatus for verticaladjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mannerof lifting the cover or hood over the mixing and cutting chambers of apellet producing apparatus of the type disclosed in my priorapplication.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for escapeof excess steam from the mixing chamber of a pellet producing apparatusto thereby prevent backing up of the flow of feed into the chamber.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure l discloses a view in elevation, partly in section, of a pelletproducing apparatus embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in plan partially in section along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation along lines 3-3 ofFig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view in plan along lines 4-4 of Fig.1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts through- 2,700,941 Patented Feb. l,1955 out, the pellet producing apparatus comprises a body generallyentitled 10 having a cover portion 11, the body providing an innermixing chamber 12 and an outer annular chamber 13. There is an annularradially oriiiced die 16 rotatably mounted within body 10 by means of amounting plate 17 having a tubular stem 19 extending therefrom and whichis rotatably mounted in a hollow support 21 which supports the body 10,said hollow support being mounted on a housing 23 which houses the meansfor driving the annular die 16.

Within annular die 16 there are rollers 25 which are mounted for axialmovement about posts 26 which have eccentrics 28 and end portions 29tting within the split arms of a spider 33 and a supporting plate 36,compare Figs. l and 3. The supporting plate 36 has a stem 40 which isrotatably mounted in tubular stem 19 by bearings 41. Mounting plate 17for annular die 16 is pro vided with an annular rib 45 fitting within anannular groove 46 provided by the mounting plate 36 for rollers Z5, theannular rib and groove construction providing a seal. Sealing means 50is provided about the periphery of mounting plate 36 for rollers 25 sothat sealing means 50 in conjunction with annular rib 45 and annulargroove 46 prevents any of the moldable material from passing down andbetween the mounting plate 36 and mounting plate 17. There is alsoprovided another seal 53 above the upper bearing 41 to protect thebearing from any moldable material which might get past the other seals.

Means are provided for rotating the annular die 17 and the rollers 25 inreverse directions and these means include a drive shaft 60 having adriving gear 61 mounted thereon, said drive shaft being rotatablymounted in housing 23. Driving gear 61 engages a lower driven gear 65which is splined to stem 40 which. supports rollers 25 and driving gear61 also meshes with driven gear 70 which is rotatably mounted by a plate73 in housing 23, driven gear 70 having a hub 80 rotatably mounted aboutthe hub 81 of driven gear 65. Hub 80 for driven gear 70 is drivinglyconnected to tubular sleeve 19 through ring gears 83 providedrespectively on tubular sleeve 19 and hub 80. lt will, therefore, beseen that the annular die 16 is driven in one direction by driven gear70 and rollers 25 are driven in the opposite direction by driven gear65.

Disposed around the exterior of annular die 16 are a plurality of pelletcutting knives which are fixedly secured to mounting plates 91 whichare, in turn, rotatably mounted about pivot screws 93 which are threadedinto an annular supporting and conveying plate 94. Mounting plates 91are provided with slots 96 through which extend adjusting screws 97which thread into annular plate 94 permitting adjustment of cuttingknives 90 toward and away from the exterior of annular die 16. In myprior application there was an annular plate 94 provided but it wasmounted from the upper part of the chamber, and therefore, did notprovide near as rigid a support for the cutting knives as the mountingplate 94 of the present invention since the mounting plate 94 is mountedon the bottom 99 provided by body 10. A1- through the annular andconveying mounting 94 is shown as being rotatably mounted by slidingcontact with the bottom 99 provided by body 10 it is understood that anyequivalent means can be used such as roller bearings and the like.Hollow member 21 provides an upstanding rim 101 within which mountingplate 17 for annular die 16 rotates. Bottom 99 is provided with anupstanding rim 102 lying next to rim 101 and a suitable seal 104,preferably of neoprene or the like, is supported against mounting andconveying plate 94 by a seal mounting plate 10S which is secured to rim102. Bottom 99 is grooved to receive a seal 108 which is positionedwithin an annular groove 109 on mounting and conveying plate 94 andengases the last-named plate for sealing purposes.

In the preferred form of the invention the mounting and conveying plate94 is driven in the same direction as the annular die 16, but it iscontemplated that in certain cases the conveying plate 94 may be drivenin the reverse direction from the annular die 16. Driving the mountingand conveying plate 94 in either direction is readily obtainable sinceplate 94 is independently driven from the other rotating units and by adrive shaft 116 rotatably mounted in sleeve 117 from bottom 99 of body10, said drive shaft having a driving gear 120 meshing with an annularring gear 121 secured to plate 94 as shown in Fig. 3. With thisindependent drive through drive shaft 116. the plate 94 and thereforethe knives 90 can be driven either in the same direction as annular die16 or in the opposite direction although as before stated, it ispreferred that the knives be moved in the same direction but at a slowerspeed than the speed of the die and the arrows in Fig. 2 indicate thepreferred direction of rotation of the primary elements. It is obviousthat if plate 94 is stationary the knives 90 will perform their cuttingfunctions but annular plate 94 is not only a plate upon which knives 90are mounted but it is also a conveying plate and there would be underthese circumstances no conveying function performed. Therefore, it iscontemplated that there will be some rotative movement of annularconveying and mounting plate 94 during use of the machine. It is alsocontemplated that a separate conveying plate and a separate mountingplate can be provided and each independently driven so that the knivescould be stationary and still have a conveying plate to convey thepellets to an outlet.

During use of the machine centrifugal force will cause the pellets to bethrown toward the periphery of annular plate 94 and these pellets willbe thrown out through an outlet 125 provided on body 10. There is adeflector member 127 secured to the side walls provided by body tojdeectinto the outlet 125 any pellets which are not thrown by centrifugalforce into the outlet 125.

The hood or cover 11 which forms a portion of the body 10, the bodyhaving a lower portion and an upper portion, is provided with adepending rim 131 to fit within the upstanding walls provided by thelower portion of body 10. Hood or cover 10 is pivotally mounted from thelower portion of the body 10 by a piston 133 secured by a sleeve 134 tothe hood or cover 11, said piston slidingy within a cylinder 136 securedto the lower portion of body 10, the piston having suitable sealingmeans between itself and the cylinder 136. The lower end of piston 133has an enlargement 138 forming the piston proper and there is an inletline 140 for directing hydraulic fluid into the cylinder 136 to raisethe piston and therefore the hood or cover 11. Suitable valves ofordinary construction are provided for controlling the flow of hydraulicuid through line 140 to cylinder 136, said valves allowing raising andlowering of the hood or cover 11.

There is a mixing and distributing vane unit 150 secured to mountingplate 36 for rollers 25, said mixing and distributing vane unit beingsimilar to the construction in my previous application and is rotatedupon rotation of stem 40 to thoroughly mix the feed or material fed tothe apparatus with steam supplied to the chamber 12, and this unit 150also serves to distribute the feed mass uniformly around the mixingchamber. There is a feeder valve 153 mounted on the top of unit 150,said feeder valve being supplied with stepped magnets 155 to pick upscrap iron, tramp and the like, which is in the feed, and feeder valve153 has an upstanding peripheral rib or ange for trapping any of thisundesirable material.

Feeder valve 153 cooperates with a feed hopper 160 to regulate the flowof feed into chamber 12 and means are provided for raising and loweringsaid hopper 160 with relation to the feeder valve 153 to vary the rateof ow of feed into the chamber and these means include cams 162 havingcircular operative faces which cooperate with followers 164 mounted onfeed hopper 160 to raise the `feed hopper when the cams 162 are rotatedwith respect to the feed hopper 160, said cams being mounted on amovable annular mounting member 170 which is rotatably mounted on asupporting member 172, as shown in Fig. l, said supporting member havingan annular rib 173 against which the member 170 bears. Feed hopper 160is provided with a key 176 which slides within a key slot 177 providedin supporting member 172 and therefore preventing rotation of feedhopper 160 but allowing raising and lowering of the same. Means forholding the feed hopper in adjusted position are provided and comprisean arm 181 secured to cam mounting ring 170 and having a thumb screw 183rotatably extending therethrough, said thumb screw also extendingthrough a circular longitudinally slotted bracket 186 which is securedto supporting member 172. Thumb screw 183 is provided with a nut 191 onthe inner end thereof, and since thumb screw 181 extends within the slotprovided in bracket 186 it is obvious that thumb screw 183 can be turnedto release the arm 181 from bracket 186 allowing shifting of arm 181within the limits (1)2 uracket 186 thereby raising and lowering feedhopper The upper portion 11 of body 10 which forms the cover or hood forthe lower portion of body 10 provides an annular steam chamber 200 andthere is an upper bank of steam inlet nozzles 201 leading from annularcharnber 200 into the mixing chamber 12 and a lower bank of steam inletnozzles 202 leading from annular steam chamber 200 into mixing chamber12. The upper bank of nozzles 201 direct steam onto the mixing anddistributing vane unit and onto the feed being mixed by the vane unitbut the lower set of nozzles 202 are directed generally below the vaneunit 150 and on to the moldable material just prior to its beingextruded through the oriliced die 16. Applicant has discovered there hasbeen a marked increase in output by providing these two banks of steaminlet nozzles. Applicant does not know the exact reason for theremarkable increase obtained but believes that it is due to the factthat the feed can only absorb a certain amount of steam per unit of timeand if there are only one set of nozzles there is a relatively limitedtime within which the feed can absorb the steam and that is during themixing period, but if a second bank of nozzles are provided fordirecting steam onto the moldable material just prior to extruding thenthe moldable material is given an additional opportunity to absorb moresteam and become therefore easier to extrude which may account for theincreased output by tlie use of these dual banks of these steam inletnozzles.

Annular steam chamber 200 is supplied with steam through a passageway206 in a web 207 of hood or cover 11 and there is a conduit 209 whichmay be flexible and which is connected by suitable nipple 210 topassageway 206 for conveying steam to the passageway.

Another novel construction of applicants apparatus concerns the mannerof leading off excess steam thereby preventing the excess steam fromimpeding the free ow of feed through the hopper since the steam does nothave a chance to build up pressure within mixing chamber -12 if there isa vent in the mixing chamber. The supporting member 172 is provided withan annular chamber 219 and there is a connecting elbow 220 secured tolsupporting member 172 by bolt 222, said elbow leading to a passageway225 provided in cover or hood 11 and which passageway 225 is divided byweb 207 as can best be seen in Fig. l. Therefore, the excess steam inchamber 12 c an How upwardly into the annular chamber 219 provided insupporting member 172 through elbow 220 down through hood 11 and intoouter chamber 13 and then through the outlet 125.

A cover 230 may be provided on hood 11 to allow inspection of thecutting knives and the cutting knife mounting means.

A lubrication system similar to the lubrication system shown in my priorapplication is provided for the present unit and is adequately describedin my prior application, and therefore need not be elaborated on indetail. This lubricating svstem comprises an oil pump 250` a lter 251,an oil line 252 leading to the bore 253 within stem 40 which feeds oilto the rollers 25 through a lubricating system similar to that shown inmy prior application.

It is contemplated that the mounting and feed conveying plate 94 will besupplied with oil on the under side thereof through the lubricatingsystem to lessen wear on this plate. By supporting the annular conveyingplate 94 from the bottom 99 of the body 10, longer wear of the plate isobtained since the oiling system for the plate is not subjected to thedirect flow of steam as it was in my prior application wherein there wasprovided an annular knife mounting plate which was mounted near theupper portion of the chamber, and therefore, subjected to the directflow of steam.

The operation of the various parts of the pellet producing apparatushave been explained along with the description and so no lengthyexplanation is deemed necessary. As has been before explained, theannular die 16 and the rollers 25 are driven in opposite directions andthe knives 90 are preferably driven in the same direction but at alesser speed than that of the annular die 16. The moldable material ismixed with steam by the mixing and distributing unit 150 and themoldable mass is extruded through the die 16 cut by the knives 90,conveyed by the annular conveying plate 94 to the outlet 125.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material into said mixing chamber, atleast one set of mixing vanes within said chamber, a pair of inclinedrows of steam nozzles communicating with a source of steam in saidmixing chamber, one of said rows having its steam nozzles inclinedtoward said mixing vanes and the other of said rows having its steamnozzles inclined toward said open base portion, and means fordischarging the steam.

2. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material into said mixing chamber, aplurality of sets of mixing vanes within said chamber, a steam chestintegral with said body and communicating with a source of steam, a pairof inclined, substantially parallel rows of steam nozzles integral withsaid steam chest and communicating with said mixing chamber, one row ofnozzles inclined toward one set of vanes and the other row of nozzlesinclined toward said open base portion, and means for discharging thesteam.

3. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material into said mixing chamber, avertical, rotatable shaft releasably secured to said mechanism andextending into a portion of said mixing chamber, a plurality of sets ofspaced, inclined mixing vanes on said shaft, a pair of inclined,substantially parallel rows of steam nozzles communicating with a sourceof steam and said mixing chamber, one row of nozzles inclined toward theuppermost set of vanes and the other row of nozzles inclined toward saidopen base portion, and means for discharging the steam.

4. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material in said mixing chamber, avertical, rotatable shaft releasably secured to said mechanism andextending into a portion of said mixing chamber, a pair of sets ofparallel inclined mixing vanes on said shaft, a pair of inclined,substantially parallel rows of steam nozzles communicating with a sourceof steam and said mixing chamber, one row of nozzles being in a planeparallel to and overlying the uppermost row of vanes and inclined towardsaid vanes, the other row of nozzles being in substantially the sameplane as the second row of vanes and inclined toward said open baseportion, and means for discharging the steam.

5. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material in said mixing chamber, avertical, rotatable shaft releasably secured to said mechanism andextending into a portion of said mixing chamber, a pair of sets ofparallel inclined mixing vanes on said shaft, a pair of inclined,substantially parallel rows of steam nozzles communicating with a sourceolf steam and said mixing chamber, one row of nozzles being in a planeparallel to and overlying the uppermost row of vanes and inclined towardsaid vanes, the other row of nozzles being in substantially the sameplane as a second row of vanes and inclined toward said open baseportion, means for discharging steam, and a feeder valve on the upper`most free end of said shaft disposed between said vanes and said meansfor depositing material.

6. In a pelleting machine, a material mixing chamber body having an openbase portion, means for depositing material in said mixing chamber, avertical, rotatable shaft releasably secured to said mechanism andextending into a portion of said mixing chamber, a pair of sets ofparallel inclined mixing vanes on said shaft, a pair of inclined,substantially parallel. rows of steam nozzles communicating with asource of steam and said mixing chamber, one row of nozzles being in aplane parallel to and overlying the uppermost row of vanes and inclinedtoward said vanes, the other row of nozzles being in substantially thesame plane as a second row of vanes and inclined toward said open baseportion, means for discharging the steam, a feeder valve on theuppermost free end of said shaft disposed between said vanes and saidmeans for depositing material, and means on the feeder valve forseparating impurities from the material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS911,816 Gielow Feb. 9, 1909 1,954,086 Meakin Apr. 10, 1934 1,993,249Scholz Mar. 5, 1935 2,146,776 Storminger Feb. 14, 1939 2,241,546Evenstad May 13, 1941 2,498,209 Iredale Feb. 21, 1950

